Στρατηγικές ανάπτυξης του ηλεκτρονικού επιχειρείν και των κάθετων ηλεκτρονικών αγορών

Abstract

The last decade, the way of doing business has certainly changed because of the rapid development of information and communication technology. Electronic commerce is a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organizations, merchants and consumers to reduce costs and enhance quality. Although markets’ experts, as well as academic researchers, still predict the huge potential of e-commerce with optimistic forecasts, the evolution of e-business had been predicted more accelerated than its present situation. This thesis examines two of the most important topics in the modern e-business literature. First, the low rate of SMEs worldwide to adopt e-business strategies is investigated. Concerning the low efficiency of B2C e-commerce, this thesis proposes the local e-collaboration as the “Trojan Horse” for the introduction of SMEs into global B2B e-commerce. To support this thesis we present the necessary evidence from the international literature and we propose a framework that enhances local and global B2B e-commerce. In particular, this approach is based on the exploitation of local characteristics, which from one hand eliminate initially important obstacles for the adoption of e-commerce practices and from the other hand, combined with factors of global environment, can contribute significantly to the extraversion of SMEs e-business activities beyond their local boundaries. In the proposed framework the most important role is given to “local forces”. Second, the thesis examines the business model of electronic marketplaces. It is generally argued that the success of B2B e-commerce is due to significant advantages B2B e-marketplaces offer to participating firms in contrast to the traditional B2B markets. E-marketplaces are considered as complex systems because of the existence of several network externalities among the participating agents (buyers, suppliers, intermediary). The thesis proposed a series of economic models that investigate the role of the intermediary and the vertical relations among buyers and sellers in such e-marketplaces. The bulk of the theoretical literature in e-commerce assumes that the owner of an e-marketplace extracts rents through the membership (entrance) fees from suppliers and buyers. Instead, in the presented models the intermediary can also charge commission fees over the quantities that are sold through the electronic platform. This more realistic business model is investigated under different conditions in two-sided markets. In an e-marketplace where all participants act strategically, the analysis suggests that, although the intermediary’s optimal pricing policy can include membership fees and commissions, the intermediary prefers to operate a vertical e-marketplace under market conditions allowing him to impose high membership fees and low commissions for both sides of the market. Under different ownership structures, i.e. in cases of buyer-driven and supplierdriven vertical e-marketplaces (with or without the existence of intermediary), the analysis show that membership fees and commissions can be used together, either as revenue resources or subsidization tools. Finally, in case of an intermediary who creates a new B2B e-marketplace competing with the traditional market, the analysis reveals that when the intermediary offers standalone value-added services to participating firms its optimal pricing policy can include the imposition of membership fees to both sides of the industry. In such case, the level of these fees is strongly related with his investment decisions and the market conditions.